Xfce is At it Again

This has happened before with Xfce4’s desktop weather applet, and now here it is again:

No forecast, no information to display. The last time it happened I was using Xubuntu – still a favorite of mine prior to 14.04 – and the fix was to remove the weather applet (not just from the panel, but remove the software from the computer), then add a PPA, and from that source, install a maintained version. Or, alternately, just be patient until an update fixes it – which it did the last time, and pretty quickly.

Most ordinary desktop users seldom give a thought to the fact that someone has to maintain every single application we use, in our distro’s repositories and in the project’s own servers. These invisible people make it possible for the rest of us to use software and keep it updated. When one of them fumbles for whatever reason, then instead of being grateful for what we have and enjoy for free, we gripe and complain. Hey, FOSS user, it ain’t like you’re not getting your money’s worth! So just quit your bitchin’ and do a little reading. My favorite distros all have Wikis and helpful documentation all over the place, and forums to help us non-geeky types interpret some of that hard-to-decipher techno-jargon. This fix for this (at least in Debian / MX) did not instantly appear in the forums. But no one is especially worried about it, because again, we’re certainly getting our money’s worth!

Try desklets! And/or gdesklets (old but pretty cool). The Xfce4 panel app is not the only source of desktop weather info for goodnessakes. Even a technophobe can easily and quickly install and configure any of the fine alternatives. And people who use free software need to gain some appreciation for the unsung, under-appreciated heroes who make it all possible.

Still lovin’ my Xfce, waiting for an update to fix it, no big deal.